Page 19 of When You Had Me Adapting

Has he though? Do people really change?I thought for sure seeing him again wouldn’t make me react this way. I thought I had moved on a long time ago, grown up, and forgotten about him and what he did. But, then he showed back up and it was apparent my feelings hadn’t changed at all. Why would he be any different?

“Lacey.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re in your head about this. I’m not suggesting you date him again. I’m not even suggesting we should be friends with him again, but I’m wondering if maybe we can find a way to tolerate each other for the sake of everyone in this ‘fun little found family.’”

“Are you mocking me?” I let out a pathetic attempt at a laugh.

“No, but it seems like maybe we should have matured enough in the last ten years to have a conversation with him. I mean Logan missed boys’ night Thursday.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t ask him to skip out on things because of me. Please don’t put that on me. Logan can do whatever he wants. If he didn’t go to boys’ night, that’s on him.”

“You’re right, but hearing about what Jace did to you brought up a lot of the shit he dealt with with his dad. He just ended their toxic relationship and it’s still really fresh. You didn’t ask him not to go, but you did ask us not to tell Tanner.”

I jump in the water and disappear under the surface until my feet hit the rough concrete at the bottom of the deep end. My heart echoes off the walls of the pool. The last thing I want is to have to rehash what happened a decade ago. With one foot I catapult myself back up to the surface like one of those synchronized swimmers. My head shoots up above the water and Poppy is staring at me annoyed.

“Nice. Please continue to run from your problems.”

“Technically, I was drowning my troubles away,” I smirk.

“We have to figure this out. I’ve given you space, but it’s time. Logan and I are getting caught in the middle and it sucks.”

I make my way over to the edge of the pool and climb out using the ladder. I grab my towel, wrap it around my body, and drop into a chair. “That’s not my intention,” I say.

She turns to face me and rests her arms on the concrete lip of the pool. “I know it’s not, but we can’t keep this up. Whether we like it or not, he’s back.”

“Okay. Fine. I’m leaving for Orlando on Tuesday, but when I get back I’ll handle it.”

“Good and what do you want to do about this dinner tomorrow?”

Her phone pings. She grabs it, looks down at the screen, and then back up at me. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. You just need to let everyone know.”

“Are you going?”

“Yeah. I want to get to know the girls better.”

I think about this for a minute. I’m not going to miss out on dinner with my friends because Jace got invited. I mean I planned it. It was my idea. All the girls from work are coming, so there will be plenty of people to talk to. Donovan and Enzo will be there too. The boat went fine and there were a lot less people.It will be fine.

“Okay, then I’ll go too. We can all coexist at dinner tomorrow night.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I promise to behave,” I say, the corner of my mouth tipping into a grin.

CHAPTER 9: PEPLUM TOPS AND GLADIATOR SANDALS

LACEY - ELEVEN YEARS AGO

I’m standing in front of my closet trying to decide what to wear. Beau’s annual end of summer bonfire is tonight. I’m nervous as hell and want it to go perfectly. My crush will be there and I plan on telling him I like him. That is, if I can muster up enough courage to admit my feelings.

I haven’t told anyone yet, not even Poppy. Mainly because the realization absolutely freaks me out. It’s just not any guy, it’s our best friend. I don’t know when it happened or why it happened, but it did.

Poppy walks in wearing a floral-print dress, a pink statement necklace, and lace wedges. Her dark brown hair is in the perfect sock bun.

“Hey, babe, you look hot,” I say as she wraps me in a hug.

“Thanks,” she says, letting go and doing a little twirl. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?” She plops down on my bed.

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